It would have been great if they connected the flashes before Desmond's eyes with the flash sideways. Alas, I think he just saw a possible future. Or, you know, "whatever didn't happen yet didn't happen."

I think Locke comes off crazy partly because he both has blind faith and crippling (pun intended) insecurities, both avenues to crazy decisions. His faith should plug the hole that is his insecurities, but his faith isn't absolute, it runs out of stream and then all he is left with is insecurities. I believe the immaculate conception line was a ploy from Lock's dad? But if Locke's mom was really crazy (like MIB's mom) the idea of inheriting the illness would have been interesting to explore.

Re: Hurley's crackers - it would have been cool if they mentioned that the (apparent) freshness was possibly supernatural. But they didn't make that a thing. They just tried to mine weak fat jokes from Hurley that he'd eat anything.

More silly Desmond accents, please! I would totally watch a Kelvin & Radzinski sitcom. The volcano was such a missed opportunity - Chekhov would disapprove. Nice work identifying Dogen's machine as a Scientology E Meter :D (that actor showed up on Westworld recently) Churches, churches, churches - so many churches!

I do really appreciate the time travel callbacks in this one - Locke seeing the Hatch light, Sawyer witnessing Aaron's birth, etc. Very good call on the similarity between that scene and the Twin Peaks version w/ Coop, Laura, & James. Claude: The best trick the devil ever pulled was convincing us that LOST would eventually make sense! I think my new favorite thing is hearing Justin's dread and angst when he starts to anticipate Claude is about to pull on a plot thread he knows will unravel :D :D :D As I hear your disappointment with so many characters' arcs, I wonder - is there any character whose trajectory you think was handled well?

Well leave it to Vince to zero in on a great question! We will certainly have to discuss this (at length) on the next podcast.

But for now I'm thinking: Jack, Sawyer, Juliet, possibly Kate.

I was just thinking how Locke's story could have ended to give him a good arc despite all the stuff he did. And and this came to mind:

Jack and MIB/Locke fighting on the cliffs in the series finale...
Jack is about to win but the cork settles and MIB has his powers back...
MIB/Locke gets the upper hand and is about to kill Jack... then:
THE REAL MOTHERFUCKING LOCKE SHOWS UP!
Everyone is confused on how it's possible, especially MIB.
Real Locke reaches out to MIB/Locke and says "You have something that belongs to me"
And just like that MIB returns to his Titus Welliver form.
MIB begins to go after Locke when every single person MIB killed or impersonated appears behind Real Locke.
Real Locke says: "I made some new friends"...
And they all bum rush MIB off the cliff into the water...
Real Locke helps Jack up (who is mortally wounded) and says "I'm sorry Jack. For everything."

We either say or hint that Real Locke was able to be present due to the uncorking in the light cave/similar power to how Jacob was present on the island a bit after he died.

That right there is how you vindicate Locke and make his arc worth, you know, watching!

P.S. Another line of dialog I would have loved:
Jack sees Real Locke and asks: "How?"
Real Locke: "Aren't you tired of asking questions, Jack?"
Jack gives that classic Matthew Fox Smirk(TM) and says : "Yes, yes I am"
They shake hands. Real Locke disappears.
Jack goes off to die.

Yes, Jin should totally have told Rousseau that her baby must not be raised by another/an-other! Seriously, though, I do like the idea that Jin saved her from being claimed, thus changing the course of events, for the better, for the Losties when they arrived years later. I forget who said it, but I laughed out loud at the proposition that if Robert was the Smoke Monster he could have turned himself into the firing pin :D You guys are going through such contortions to explain all the problematic time travel issues. I do, though, particularly like the suggestions that Smokey could have been consicousness-time-travelling to maneuver in multiple eras. Also, interesting theory that he he could have been manipulating Ms. Hawking. I'm confident that if you two persist you'll be able to give a plausible explanation to every aspect of the show. Or maybe you did already, and we've just forgotten...

"Or maybe (we) did already, and we've just forgotten..." may be the thing we say in the very final podcast.

That or the final line may be "Guys, we are we?" lol

But yeah, Jin telling Rousseau her baby should not be raised by "an other" would have been a nice symmetry with Claire as well as connecting to Ben raising Alex which leads to her premature death. But now I'm not even sure Jin knew Alex was Rousseau's child, I forget how that story line goes.

I just found this podcast and this is amazing. I have been binge listening to this as I have been rewatching the show. It is my second watch and I’m now in season 5. Looking forward to catching up to the episode commentaries after I finish this rewatch.

I can’t believe y’all are still putting out shows. Makes me very excited that this community is still aroun. I just assumed when I found this that you all would be long done. Wish I had been listening in real time, because I would have been very excited to contribute to theories at the time. Alas, can’t change that because what happened, happened. Anyways - you guys are awesomely entertaining.

I haven’t read forums or finished listening to all the podcasts of the original show, but, I’ve been yelling at you while listening when you talk about time travel and time concepts. It’s been fun and frustrating because y’all have great conversations about it but I also can’t butt in say things too. Haha. Anyways, Don’t know if either of you have read “slaughterhouse 5,” but, I feel like thinking about time in that manner is somewhat helpful to making sense of free will combining with the concept of “what happened happened”. Though, it also makes my head want t explode...

Anyways, mostly here to express my appreciation for putting out the best lost podcast that I have found. Excellent work. Got to check out mr podcast, too, I suppose. Cheers, Dan

There's literally hundred of hours of LLD and we're glad the old stuff is still available for newer viewers. We're currently in Season 5 with our commentary series and yes, lots of mind bending time travel!

Let us know how your rewatch is going and any interesting or flat out wrong theories or comments we have in our original run podcast.

A recent road trip finally afforded me the time to catch up w/ you guys and I really enjoyed these last two. I'm really liking the idea that Eloise could have been manipulated by MIB - makes a lot of sense. It even inspired the idea that MIB could have been part of the drama that led to Eloise & Widmore's banishment back in the 50's (?), either MIB manipulated them or even conspired with them... I, too, totally forgot abour Caesar! I agree w/ you guys that keeping MIB as Christian and avoiding all the pitfalls of embodying Locke would have been a good solution to some of the nonsense. Unless, as you suggest, the writers made more use of potential conflict of MIB being afflicted by Locke's hangups, out of his control to some degree. Lots of untapped opportunities there for thematic drama. Another great idea of yours - Des realizing his selfishness and forcing Widmore to help in the greater fight. It would have given Des a more realistic motivation and reason for being there, as well as offering Widmore redemption (and maybe even a scene with his own daughter!). And, yes, Richard should have recognized MIB's deceptive schtick of impersonating the dead :(

The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham

Had an idea for Justin's 'Clip Show Loophole Episode' - characters return to Pearl and find a vault of tapes of camera observation footage deemed exceptionally important. It'd be kind of like a found footage movie I guess. (Or, kinda cool, instead of Losties going to the Pearl it's a Dharma rescue team of Hanso and the Degroots!) Anyway, I absolutely love the idea that MIB could have time-travel manipulated his earlier self - "MIB MIB's himself" :D I also am intrigued by your reboot ideas - the native perspective, another island (a future with Hurley as the leader is less appealing). What about this - LOST...in Space! ;) Or maybe similar characters but with the genders, nationalities, and backstories shuffled around? I wonder what the ideal reboot structure would be - still 6 seasons? fewer or more? 8 episode seasons? 12/13? 15? Last consideration of yours I appreciated - what's more evil, the devil who's there or the god who isn't? (re Jacob & MIB) Ah, well... You should keep that spontaneous tagline - 'TLLD - solving LOST one episode at a time!' Thanks guys - you solved it again!!! Looking forward to hootenannies!

I actually synced up w/ you this time! Fun stuff :) I appreciate you coining the term 'Walting' as a verb, in reference to MIB appearing where he shouldn't be. We finally get to The Hootenanny! I hope we all enjoyed our Pearl Station brownies ;) I know she's dead now, but I would still like to hear you work in more Char-lotte accents in upcoming podcasts. OMG, did they really never explain Daniel crying at the start of season 4?! I'm going to have to ponder that one... To get through the sonic fence Smokey just needed earplugs :D :D :D On a serious note, I really do like your point that the Claire/Rousseau parallels had so much potential for deeper development. The tie-back to season 1 (raised by another, etc) could have been such graceful and powerful storytelling. Loving the pods, guys. Thanks, as always :)

I like your theory that Radzinski was actually killed by Kelvin - makes sense, as annoying as they played him & fits w/ Kelvin's personality pretty well. "Widmore was a bad character that couldn't be changed!" :D You two have got some really good ideas on how much better they could have written Ben. I like the suggestion that he could have thought Jacob was a myth and manipulate it to his own ends, and the fallout when he learns he's wrong. I also love the idea that Smokey could have appeared to Ben as his dead father over the years. So much mind-fuckery to be had there. Also, interesting that they could have created behavioral cause/effect loops, ala the watch. AND, if handled differently, the whole 70's Ben could have functioned like an extended twist on the flashback device, expanding on character experience & motivation that led to what we'd seen over the previous 3 seasons. Oh, the unrealized possibilities... But I'm having fun poring over it w/ you - Thanks! (and namaste :) )

There was a brief moment at the start of the podcast where it seemed Claude had dropped from the call and it really took me back to the old days of Justin reading the news when that would happen regularly :) The more think about it, the more this recurring theme of characters being wrong about big & little-picture explanations could be taken as a nice twist on the story telling device of the unreliable-narrator. "Jake" :D Even if I don't like the character, I love the actor playing Oldham for other roles of Larry (with brother Darryl & other brother Darryl) on the old, but newer, Newhart show) and the detestable E.B. Farnham on Deadwood. BTW, Dharma jail seems like a pretty good deal just for the sandwiches. On a serious note, I really would have liked there to have been a long-held secret that Ben &/or some of The Others actually did remember the Losties' contribution to the 70's, and that knowledge had a bigger impact on how things played out. Put it in the rewrite, guys!